This is it! After more than a year of planning and dreaming of moving far away, I'm finally on the cusp of leaving. Destination: Shenzhen, China. There I'll be teaching English for the next year and traveling every chance I get. Hoping to make a significant dent in my travel wish list.
One of the most frequent questions I've been getting as I've told friends, family and acquaintances that I'm picking up and moving halfway across the world is, "What made you decide to do that?" I thought I'd take a moment to answer this for anyone who's still curious.
When I think back on my four years in college, there is no doubt where I've learned the most; it's when I've been traveling. Whether it was Brussels or Washington, D.C., I learned more about how the world works by just being part of it...not sitting in a classroom reading about it. I've been lucky in that I've gotten to see a lot of the world, but there's so much more I still want to see. I don't want to be closed in by the four walls of a cubicle at some entry-level job (assuming I could find one in this economy), nor do I want to sign myself up for another few years at a university getting a degree in something I may or may not even use when it's all over. Teaching English in China gives me the opportunity to A) live abroad and travel, B) teach, C) learn Mandarin, and D) earn a paycheck (so I can keep traveling). I can't think of anything I'd rather do.
So, follow me here as the next year unfolds!
One of the most frequent questions I've been getting as I've told friends, family and acquaintances that I'm picking up and moving halfway across the world is, "What made you decide to do that?" I thought I'd take a moment to answer this for anyone who's still curious.
When I think back on my four years in college, there is no doubt where I've learned the most; it's when I've been traveling. Whether it was Brussels or Washington, D.C., I learned more about how the world works by just being part of it...not sitting in a classroom reading about it. I've been lucky in that I've gotten to see a lot of the world, but there's so much more I still want to see. I don't want to be closed in by the four walls of a cubicle at some entry-level job (assuming I could find one in this economy), nor do I want to sign myself up for another few years at a university getting a degree in something I may or may not even use when it's all over. Teaching English in China gives me the opportunity to A) live abroad and travel, B) teach, C) learn Mandarin, and D) earn a paycheck (so I can keep traveling). I can't think of anything I'd rather do.
So, follow me here as the next year unfolds!
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